‘Thank God’: Survivors of Varanasi flyover collapse that killed 18 recount horror

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All the three admitted to the Sri Shiv Prasad Gupt hospital attributed their survival to divine intervention.

Nasiruddin believes it was providence that saved him when part of a semi-constructed flyover near the Varanasi Cantonment station came crashing on Tuesday, snuffing out at least 18 lives.

Lying in a hospital bed at the Sri Shiv Prasad Gupt divisional hospital, the 28-year-old from Deoria district recalls how two concrete beams fell off a 40-foot-tall pillar attached to the structure – missing him by inches. However, iron rods jutting out of the beam tore through his lower mandible, severely injuring his jawline.

A team of doctors operated on Nasiruddin that night, leaving him with a stitched-up jaw that now serves as a painful reminder of the tragedy that nearly took his life.

Lying next to Nasiruddin is his cousin Shakil Ahmad, also 28. He suffered internal injuries in the incident.

Nasiruddin had come down to Varanasi three days ago to meet the family members of an aunt residing in Sakkartala. On that fateful day, he and Ahmad decided to go to the famous Lauhrabir market on a motorcycle. The two were passing through a narrow stretch of the road between the Cantonment railway station and the semi-constructed Lahartara overbridge around 5.30 pm when two beams came crashing onto the road.

“Iron rods protruding from a beam tore through Nasiruddin’s lower jaw, severely injuring it. He is recovering well after the surgery,” says Dr Prashant, a staffer at the hospital.

Mohammad Shami, a relative, claims that the two were saved through divine intervention. “God was kind enough to keep my brothers safe!” he exclaims, adding that Nasiruddin’s concerned mother had come down from Deoria on Wednesday morning.

Lying next to them is Praddum Lal, a 40-year-old resident of Pipraya village in adjoining Mirzapur district. Attending to him is his wife, Rani.

Lal had come to Varanasi on Tuesday afternoon to buy household goods. He was travelling in an auto rickshaw with other passengers when a portion of the flyover crumbled. Heavy metal beams tumbled off the structure, nearly crushing them underneath.

Although Lal only suffered minor wounds because he was sitting on the far end of the auto rickshaw, the others weren’t as lucky. They had to be rushed to the Sir Sunderlal Hospital at the Banaras Hindu University in a critical condition.

“My husband was saved by the grace of God,” says Rani, who had rushed to the hospital immediately after being alerted by hospital staffers.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya visited the divisional hospital in the wee hours of Wednesday to check on the three patients admitted there.

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